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Tens of thousands of people displaced from Georgia's secessionist territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have been waiting to return home for more than a decade. Since a ceasefire was enforced in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 1992, more than 200,000 people have lived in precarious conditions, mostly accommodated in collective centres dependent on meagre state benefits.

Since the 1980s, the conflict ravaging Sudan has generated the world's largest internally displaced population. Over four million people have fled their homes to escape fighting between government troops, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and several smaller militia groups.

Following its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova - one of the poorest countries in Europe - faced its own internal secessionist uprising as the Russian and Ukrainian population in the Transdniestrian region sort independence. The armed conflict internally displaced up to 51,000 people and forced up to 80,000 people to seek refuge in third countries, mainly in neighbouring Ukraine.

A government decision to cancel elections in 1991 sparked off fighting between government forces and Islamist groups that ravaged Algeria throughout the 1990s. As government forces gained control in the major towns, armed attacks, massacres and large-scale human rights violations continued in rural areas, leading to massive displacement from the countryside to the outskirts of nearby cities. The precise number of Algerians displaced by the political violence is impossible to assess given the information void that has pervaded the conflict in Algeria since its onset.

More than 225,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) – mainly ethnic Serbs and Roma who fled Kosovo when Yugoslav forces withdrew in 1999 – are still waiting to return from Serbia and Montenegro to their pre-war homes in the now UN-administered province. Although the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo generally appears to have become more tolerant vis-à-vis the return of the displaced and an operational framework has been put in place to facilitate returns, a number of obstacles still prevent IDPs from going back to their places of origin.

Following its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova - one of the poorest countries in Europe - faced its own internal secessionist uprising as the Russian and Ukrainian population in the Transdniestrian region sought independence.

Macedonia has been regarded as a “success story” for having achieved the fastest returns of people displaced by conflict in the Balkans. Over 95 per cent of the people uprooted during the brief but intense conflict between ethnic Albanian armed groups and Macedonian security forces in 2001 have been able to return.

The collapse of the regime of Saddam Hussein following the US-led war in Iraq in March 2003 created the political conditions for the 800,000 Kurds who had been forcibly displaced under a brutal policy of “Arabisation” to return to their homes.

Displacement has been an endemic feature of the 40-year long conflict in Colombia, and over three million Colombians have been displaced since 1985. The IDP crisis has become one of the world's worst, disproportionately affecting Afro-Colombians and indigenous people, who make up some of the country’s poorest people.

Persistent insecurity in many areas of the country and disputes related to land and
property are major constraints to IDP return. The huge wave of IDPs returning home
in 2002 has not been sustained during 2003, mainly because of continued instability,
poor economic progress and harsh living conditions. Some 400,000 IDPs returned
home in 2002, the majority without any assistance.

Persistent insecurity in many areas of the country and disputes related to land and property are major constraints to IDP return. The huge wave of IDPs returning home in 2002 has not been sustained during 2003, mainly because of continued instability, poor economic progress and harsh living conditions. Some 400,000 IDPs returned home in 2002, the majority without any assistance.

Eight years after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement, there are still 330,000 people internally displaced in Bosnia-Herzegovina. While the international community has largely succeeded in implementing the right of displaced people and refugees to return in Bosnia-Herzegovina the plight of many internally displaced people remains unresolved.

Attempts by the Russian federal authorities to stabilise the military, political and socio-economic situation in Chechnya during 2003 have so far failed to reduce levels of violence in the province to allow for the safe return of the more than 200,000 people who remain internally displaced.

For more than thirty years, repeated military stand-offs and intensive shelling between Indian and Pakistani military forces have temporarily displaced thousands of people living along the Pakistani side of the Line of Control that has divided Kashmir since 1972. The number of internally displaced increased dramatically when the conflict between India and Pakistan intensified in 2002.

Described by a senior UN official as the “world’s biggest neglected humanitarian crisis”, the conflict in northern Uganda has now dragged on for more than 17 years. The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) has more than doubled from about 650,000 in July 2002 to 1.4 million as of December 2003. The escalation of the conflict since June 2003 meant hundreds of thousands of people have poured into camps after fleeing direct attacks by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army and regular fighting between the warring parties.

More than 500,000 people may be internally displaced in Bangladesh due to conflict over land and religious persecution. The majority (estimates range between 60,000 to 500,000) remains displaced in the aftermath of a 25-year long armed conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the southeastern part of Bangladesh.

With the exception of the province of Aceh where in May 2003 the government launched a huge military operation and imposed martial law, most of Indonesia’s former hot spots are now in a post-conflict recovery phase. The crackdown in Aceh, which ended a five month-long peace agreement with rebels from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), has led to the government effectively sealing off the province to foreign aid workers.

The overthrowing of President elect, Ange-Felix Patassé by former General Francois Bozizé on 15 March 2003 marked the culmination of six months of fighting between rebels and troops loyal to the government of the Central African Republic (CAR). An estimated 200-300,000 were displaced by the fighting which was accompanied by massive violations of human rights, including rapes, summary executions and looting.

At least 650,000 persons are internally displaced in India due to conflicts in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat and the North-East. There has also been incidents of communal violence in Kerala which has led to temporary displacement.

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About Us

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) is the leading source of information and analysis on internal displacement worldwide. Since 1998, our role has been recognised and endorsed by United Nations General Assembly resolutions.

For the millions of people displaced within their own country, IDMC plays a unique role as a global monitor and analyst to inform and influence policy and action by governments, UN agencies, donors, international organisations and NGOs.

IDMC is part of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), an independent, non-governmental humanitarian organisation.